There are sixteen of us, not including Mr. Pierce, or I guess, Atlas. It’s odd to think that he has a normal, regular person name after all the personal details of his life have stayed under lock and key over the last decade or so. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to refer to him as Atlas. It feels intimately wrong.
I breathe a small sigh of relief when I realize that all of us are basically in the same line of work. Some are journalists. Others are influencers. We have a couple of book reviewers and photographers mixed in. And then there are the three of us podcasters. All of which revolve around all things books, writing, and authors. I was nervous when we left the escape room and saw that so many more people had been invited here to meet Mr. Pierce. It made me feel inadequate up until this moment. Because now I know we are all here for the same thing: to get the major story on A. M. Pierce’s life.
Lee and Josh are the only two who are plus ones, and I’m still not entirely sure who Josh is here with.
Henry floats in again with more staff following behind him. They swap out our appetizers with another traditional Scottish meal: Haggis with neeps and tatties.
Lochlan claps with glee and savagely digs into his meal the moment it hits the table. “Oh, this is the best haggis I’ve ever tasted!” he says through a mouthful as juices slide down his chin.
Lexi looks disgusted and slides her chair closer to Lee.
I’m hesitant to dive in since I’m not entirely sure what’s on my plate. The only food I recognize is the potatoes, or tatties. I scoop a little of each item onto my fork and bring it to my mouth. The rich flavors are exquisite, and I moan loudly, inciting some genuine laughter at the table.
“I’m pleased to hear you like your meal, Capri,” Pierce muses. “We had the haggis brought in from a local butcher who only raises his livestock on organic feed. The neeps, or turnips to you American folks, are from the garden outside.”
I finish chewing before taking a sip of wine. “It’s all delicious, Mr. Pierce. Thank you again for having us.”
Pierce’s eyes darken as he stares at me. “Atlas, please.”
I nod, blushing, before turning my attention back to my meal. Something about him unsettles me.
The rest of the meal is uneventful. Mr. Pierce asks us random questions, but nothing of real substance. Definitely nothing about his books. It’s almost as if he’s waiting to give up any personal details about himself or his writing life until dinner is finished. He mostly talks to his staff, giving them orders to bring more wine to the table and to take empty plates. It’s nothing as I expected. He invited us here, and now I can’t help but wonder what the catch is.
None of us is brave enough to ask Mr. Pierce any questions. Instead, we all eat in silence and laugh at the appropriate times when Mr. Pierce has said something entertaining.
When Lee raises his hand, the entire room goes silent as Mr. Pierce smiles at him. “You don’t need to raise your hand here, Lee. Please, think of us as a giant family,” Mr. Pierce responds.
“Sorry, I may have had a few too many glasses of wine, Mr—Atlas,” Lee states, embarrassedly. I know he only drank one glass because he doesn’t typically drink with strangers. “But I’m wondering what the point of your little task…or game was for?”
Mr. Pierce raises a perfectly manicured eyebrow at my husband as the room ceases to move. “You mean the game I played on your dear wife and her friends?”
Lee nods, grabbing my hand under the table. “Yes, I just wonder why not everyone had to play it to have a seat at thisfamilytable with you. Specifically, why didn’t I have to play?”
I stare daggers at my husband. I cannot believe he just called out our host like that, even if I’ve been wondering the same thing myself. Maybe Lee’s glass of wine was stronger than the rest of us, or perhaps he drank more with Lochlan than I initially thought.
Mr. Pierce folds his hands in front of him and rests his elbows on the table. “Didn’t you want to know your wife’s darkest secret? Didn’t you want to know if there was anything she was keeping from you? It’s not very often that a husband gets to hear those intimately dark details of his lady’s life without having to get his hands dirty. You’re saying you didn’t enjoy it?”
Lee chuckles curtly. “No. I can’t say that I did. I wouldn’t want to learn anything if it meant putting her through that type of distress. I trust my wife to tell me her secrets when she’s ready to share them, not because she’s forced to.”
“Well then,” Mr. Pierce muses before he gets to his feet, leaving the rest of us sitting around this table like puppets hung on his every word. “You’re going to have a hell of a time once you find out what I have instore for the rest of you lucky ducks. Now let’s call it a night. I have more fun tasks for you all tomorrow, and I promise you’ll want your beauty sleep if you’re going to play. The staff will deliver dessert to each of your rooms in about half an hour.”
Lexi scoffs loudly, and I hold my breath as Mr. Pierce narrows his eyes at her. “Don’t worry, dear Lexi. You’ll enjoy the next game on my little list of horrors as we get to know each other better.” He glances at Teagan and Quinn and tosses an unsettling wink their way before exiting the room.
Lee and I make our way back to our room in silence as we unwrap the events of tonight. The trip so far has gone nothing as I expected. Lee must be feeling the same way because as soon as we close the door behind us, he locks it and shoves the chair from the small secretary desk under the handle.
He holds his finger to his lips and sneaks into the bathroom, beckoning me to follow. Once inside, he turns the sink on and closes the door behind me as I perch on the countertop.
“What’s with all the cloak-and-dagger behavior?” I whisper to him.
Lee looks towards the door, a flash of anxiety clouding his features briefly. “I think we need to get off this island as soon as possible.”
My eyebrows knit together in confusion. “Why?”
He runs his hands through his dark hair several times and paces the small bathroom, clearly frustrated. “I can’t put a finger on it, exactly. I just feel like something isn’t right here. Something about Pierce and thisplace makes me feel like I’m walking into a surgery I know won’t have a good outcome,” Lee admits.
“Come here,” I beckon Lee towards me and wrap my arms around his shoulders once he’s flush against me. Sitting on the countertop gives me a slight height advantage that I usually never have, and I rub my nose against my husband’s. “Hey. If you don’t feel comfortable here, then I trust you,” I tell Lee. “Something about Pierce unsettles me, too.”
Lee looks at me in a way I never thought another person would. Like I’m truly his entire world. But he’s my whole universe, and I won’t let anything break him.
